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« Back to All Daily Grace

The gift before us

2.14.2017
|
Daily Grace

Decluttering author Marie Kondo writes: “When we really delve into the reasons for why we can’t let something go, there are only two: an attachment to the past or a fear for the future.”

So many things in our lives can block and clutter our relationship with God.

In our lives, many demons cut us off from community, including broken relationships, a lack of basic needs, addiction and mental illness, just to name a few. Jesus calls out the demons by name.

Martin Luther wrote about the theological concept of Incurvatus in Se, a Latin phrase meaning, “to be turned in on oneself.” Luther used this image of an inward focus to describe sin. In other words, to be inwardly concerned and not outwardly focused on God and neighbor is a manifestation of sin.

Sometimes we become so focused on feeling full—of food, of stuff, of relationships, of ourselves—that we forget Jesus is the only one truly capable of sustaining our life. Through our baptism, Jesus invites us to recognize the gift that is right before us.

This message is adapted from “False Idols” by Kristen Glass Perez in the January/February 2017 issue of Gather. Today we remember Cyril, monk, died 869; Methodius, bishop, died 885; missionaries to the Slavs. Don’t forget to say “I love you” to someone today.

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